Micromorphology of Some Soils of the North Western Himalayas

The paper presents results of a thin section study carried out as part of a pedo-logicalinvestigation of two typical soil profiles developed from biotite schist in the high and medium altitude forest zones of the N. W. Himalayas. Besides describing various micro-morphological features, the study brings out that the high altitude profile has in B₂ large ferro-humic accumulations that are confined to pores and cavities and thus are of an illuvial nature. At the same time the A₂ horizon, unlike that of the soils of the podzolic group in northern Europe, has a uniformly brown coloured plasma, thereby precluding the possibility of aggressive action of organic acids even on microscopic scale. The ferro-humic accumulations are seen occurring as undifferentiated floccules with regard to ferric or humic components and thus these appear to be the result of a simultaneous transportation of components possibly as chelates. The me Hum altitude profile, instead, shows argillic accumulations in some of the pores and cavities in B₂. This movement of colloidal clay in face of well coagulated plasma in the A₁’ and A₂” horizons is thought to be linked with the sudden wet monsoon phase that follows dry summer.